Traffic Control: Tienken will be closed to thru traffic between Livernois and Rochester. Local Traffic Only.

Proposed Start Date:

• Stage 1: Late June/Early July 2014

• Stage 2: April 2015

Anticipated Completion Date:

• Stage 1: October 31, 2014

• Stage 2: September 3, 2015

—Information via Rochester Hills Department of Public Services

ROCHESTER HILLS >> A glitch in the bidding process has caused a delay for a road project in Rochester Hills.

The Road Commission for Oakland County announced Tuesday that it had to postpone the Tienken Road reconstruction project from Rochester Road to Livernois Road in Rochester Hills because of a glitch in the state bidding process that caused the Michigan Department of Transportation to reject all bids. The project was originally slated to begin May 15.

Because federal money is funding a portion of the project cost, the project had to be bid by MDOT, which attributed the glitch to an oversight on a contractor’s behalf.

“The contractor did not submit all of the forms which were required as part of the contract’s award,” said Diane Cross, a spokesperson for MDOT’s Metro region. “The next lowest bidder was found to be significantly higher than the winning bid. Therefore, with the county’s agreement, all bids were rejected. That has led to a new ‘letting’ date, which is the invitation to bid on a project.”

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Craig Bryson of the Road Commission for Oakland County confirmed that he had heard similar rumors.

“There were some rumors but we don’t know what happened,” he said. “(MDOT) runs that show and we’re kind of at their mercy.”

The Tienken Road project involves reconstructing the section between Rochester and Livernois roads into a three-lane road with a continuous, shared center turn lane. A roundabout is planned for the Tienken/Livernois intersection. The project will include drainage improvements, sidewalks, intersection lighting at the roundabout, retaining walls in various locations and other additional improvements.

A special bid award will be granted on May 21, which Bryson said is indicative of MDOT’s effort to expedite the delayed project.

The loss of approximately two months in the process, however, means RCOC won’t be able to complete the project during the 2014 construction season and will have to split the work between 2014 and 2015.

“It’s completely out of our control, unfortunately,” Bryson said. “We understand the frustration; we had anticipated this would completely be constructed this year.”

Much of this delay has to do with legal obligations and meetings with the as-of-yet undetermined contractor, Bryson said.

“We’ve got to kind of go back to square one,” he said. “We don’t know who the contractor is until May 21, then there’s about a month period of time before the contractor can start.”

This year will see the construction of the roundabout at Tienken and Livernois. Tienken will be reconstructed between Livernois and west of where the Paint Creek Trail crosses Livernois with an anticipated completion date of October 31. The remainder of the project, from west of the Paint Creek Trail to Rochester Road, is scheduled for completion in 2015.

RCOC will close the Livernois and Tienken intersection to traffic from the end of June to mid-November in order to complete the roundabout.

Allan Schneck, director of the Rochester Hills Department of Public Services, said splitting up the construction project into two seasons shouldn’t adversely affect any of the city’s other construction operations. The city is partnered with RCOC with respect to cost participation in the Tienken Road project.

Schneck couldn’t comment how next week’s special bid award would affect the project with regards to cost, but said the city is maintaining active communication with the road commission.

“We have great communications with RCOC and we’ll continue and forge ahead as best as we can,” he said.

Work on the remainder of the project will begin in early spring of 2015 and be completed by late summer. Tienken Road will be closed from east of the new roundabout at Livernois to Rochester Road.

“We thank the public for their patience,” Bryson said. “It is an inconvenience but in the big scheme of things it’s a short-term pain for long-term gain.”

One Rochester resident said that some good may come out of this process despite the delay.

“The ability to submit bid paperwork is a test,” said Paul Bonenberger. “Do we really want a company that cannot properly submit a bid package doing the work on Tienken Road? I don’t care if they were the lowest bid.”